In the last adventure, the players gallivanted around on the corpses of murdered demon lords competing for the blessings of the demon lord who killed them. What could possibly top that? Herald of the Ivory Labyrinth definitely ups the ante again.
Iomedae has a little problem: her Herald went and got himself captured by the demons and hauled off to a prison in the Abyss. This situation cannot be allowed to continue, and she needs the best the world has to offer. But who has the right resume for such a job? Perhaps a ragtag team that has pushed back the demon hordes, led crusader armies into the heart of the Worldwound, freed a former crusader stronghold, and ventured into the Abyss to stop the production of elixirs that grant mythic powers to demons.
But first, there must be an interview.
Performance Review
The RPG adventure "Herald of the Ivory Labyrinth" begins with the players being summoned into the presence of the god Iomedae. Even for mythic characters, this is not something that happens every day. She tests them to see if they are worthy of the task she has for them. Her tests don't involve combat; they're questions, and they're the types of questions a god might ask. They are hard questions. They are tricky questions. There seem to be real consequences for getting them wrong and real rewards for getting them right, not the least of which is being sent to the Abyss again to rescue the Herald.
The real question, though, is how to model this in the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game. Well, we took some liberties and made up some new rules, and those are some of my favorite things to do.
The scenario Audience with the Inheritor has a lot of features that make it unique. First, you treat the villain, The Lady of Valor, differently. She's not shuffled into a location with the henchmen; she goes into the blessings deck instead. This makes a huge difference. For one thing, it means that you only have to worry about the villain popping up at the start of your turn. Once that's over, you're free to explore to your heart's content. A less obvious benefit is that you will never end the scenario without finding the villain. And as long as there are still cards in the blessing deck, you always know you will get to meet the Lady at least one more time.
She also has a singular power: her check to defeat is increased by 10 for each character in the game. Everyone will need to contribute each time she's encountered in order to defeat her. Failure also means that every character takes 1d10 damage they can't prevent, and then she goes back into the blessing deck.
You rang??
It's not as hopeless as it looks, though. The characters have some powerful tools to help them in their tasks; remember that Iomedae wants them to win! First of all, the locations in this scenario are the friendliest you are likely to find anywhere. There are only 4 banes (plus the henchmen) among all 6 locations. It's practically a treasure trove. There's a new location called Heaven that is especially nice—players get to add a die to their checks against Deities (guess who!) for each marker on the card. You can get markers by closing the location, but the henchmen are also a big help. If you defeat them, they add markers to Heaven as well. By the end of the game, you could have 8 markers on Heaven, and I'm sure 8 dice would really help against the Lady.
Bloody well rite!
Interesting Choices
Once the players pass Iomedae's little test, they are dispatched to the Abyss (again) to secure the release of her Herald. They must journey through the realms of Baphomet, the lord of minotaurs and mazes, to a magical prison where the Herald is being held.
Along the way, many cool things can happen, but the last scenario contains two of the coolest.
First, it contains an optional fight. After the players defeat the Herald, they can simply end the scenario... or they can go and try to kick a Demon Lord's butt first. It's totally up to the players and will probably depend heavily on how they feel and what cards they have. Baphomet is no joke, and it might be wisest to simply take the win when you can get it. If they can defeat him, though, they get an extra piece of loot: the Amulet of the Abyss!
Are you ready?
The second cool thing also occurs at the end of final scenario as part of the reward. One of the players can choose to trade in his mythic path card for one of two mythic paths that represent assuming the mantle of the Herald of Iomedae. One of the paths is more suited to melee or divine characters, the other to ranged or arcane ones. The choice is up to the players, but it's a one-time offer.
The benefits package is pretty good.
Labyrinthine Challenges
AD5 adds several extra tricky banes to the game as well. One of the most clever is the Corruption Demon. With a 25 combat check to defeat, he's no slouch, but that isn't where his true strengths lie. If a player can't make a difficult Intelligence or Knowledge check, her character is going to get carted off to the Middle of Nowhere, and that place is rough. And that's not the demon's only trick. If he's undefeated, he deals damage, and then instead of going back into the deck, he gets displayed next to a character and reduces all non-physical skills to a d4. Fun times!
He just keeps asking "Are we there yet!?"
Also of note is the Xenarth. You only need a modest 24 to defeat it, but if the location deck isn't nearly empty, the Xenarth is turn up again like a bad penny. Oh, and you might take 2 Acid and 2 Poison damage as well.
"Demon sharks. Why did it have to be demon sharks?"
The barriers are very entertaining as well. There's a Temptation, of course, but I think the most interesting barrier here is the Magic Ray Fusillade. Unless you're Ezren, you're going to find the 18 check to defeat fairly difficult. And if you fail, someone is going to get hit for a LOT of damage in very small buckets.
Pew Pew Pew!
A-mazing Prizes!
The Bureau of Totally Made Up Facts tells us that every year, hundreds of people get lost in the mazes of the Abyss, never to return. They leave a variety of useful items for adventurers to discover, though some are not always so nice.
Now where's that ol' redemption card?
This set has so many good spells that I just want to call them all out, but my favorite is Elemental Bombardment. It doesn't do anything too crazy. It's primarily just a damaging spell. But I love the idea of summoning a giant elemental high up in the sky, from which it plummets directly onto your opponent and then it gets up and beats on them.
What's that whistling sound?
The real standout boons, however, are the allies in this set.
Let's start with one that really highlights what playing in a mythic campaign is all about. The main storyline and goal of the first PACG Adventure Path, Rise of the Runelords, is to defeat one of the ancient Runelords who has returned to the land. He's the big baddie of the set, and it takes all of the players' efforts to defeat him at the end of the AP.
Here we have Runelord Alderpash. Not only is he not the major villain of this set, he's a prisoner of Baphomet who can become your ally. HE WORKS FOR YOU! Now that's mythic! And he's pretty awesome as well, adding 2d4+1 and an elemental trait to a combat check, or you can just banish him to permanently close any location.
More like "Alderwuss."
There is also Orengofta, a demon who's hoping to cash in on the players by betraying them... until he notices how powerful they are, and then he's glad to help them. In this case, he helps by looking for the villain, and if he finds one, he can put it on top of your dresser. But if he doesn't find one, there will be Hell the Abyss to pay.
Follow me not...
Here's a little trick you should know about these allies: Not one of them has a check to acquire. Instead, you're going to have to do something to free them from their prison cells. And I'm sure you'll never regret doing it...
Games are often about the stories you can tell to your friends about things that happen while you're playing them. I'd be hard pressed to come up with a better story than: "First we had tea with the Lady of Valor. Then we went to the Abyss and fought our way to the Ineluctable Prison where we rescued the Herald of Iomedae, and I got these lovely Baphomet horns to hang above the fireplace."
Paul Peterson
Adventure Card Game Designer
